Crossword Genius

A revolutionary fortification (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

barricade

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'fortification' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'a revolutionary' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' is found in the answer.
'revolutionary' could be 'cade' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'cade' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for barricade that I've seen before include "Improvised obstruction" , "Improvised fence" , "Temporary obstruction" , "Fortification, barrier" , "Barrier, to block a street perhaps" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian and The Globe and Mail.
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